State Schools See Drop in Diversity

This year has seen a significant drop in black enrollment in colleges nationwide, The Washington Post reported yesterday.

State flagship schools have been hit especially hard, but the trend has also affected Ivy League institutions like the University of Pennsylvania, where African American enrollment has fallen to 7 percent of their freshman class. Harvard, however, has avoided any dropoff this year.

“We’ve had a very good season at this point,” Director of Undergraduate Admissions Marlyn McGrath Lewis ’70-’73 said. “We don’t have any new methods. The key to this is recruitment of strong candidates...It has been a real priority for 30 years.”

The College’s African American enrollment rose from 8.5 percent to 8.9 percent this year, though schools from the University of Michigan to the University of California at Berkeley saw their African American admissions decrease. At the University of Michigan, numbers fell from 7.4 percent last year to only 5.8 percent this year.

“It is certainly something that has brought some national attention,” University of Michigan Associate Director for Undergraduate Admissions Sally H. Lindsley said. “I think that [the attention] is not necessarily a bad thing.”

While McGrath Lewis emphasized Harvard’s history of successful recruiting, she also acknowledged the common difficulties for colleges in admissions.

“I don’t think we’re necessarily in a different state than other colleges,” she said, adding that “interest by ambitious colleges in attracting promising minority students may be outpacing the growth in the pool of candidates.”

Part of the problem may be that not enough students are taking standardized tests that make them eligible to apply to top schools, Lindsley said.

According to the College Board, in 2003 only 1,877 African American students in the U.S. scored above 1300 on the SAT.

Some are worried about the effects on campus life if the trend continues.

“Once you lose those numbers and that diversity, you’re losing a well-rounded perspective on academics and student life,” President of the Harvard Black Students Association Lawrence E. Adjah Jr. ’06 said. “They don’t see as many people who look like them...that’s a fact they can’t ignore.”

President of the Association of Black Harvard Women Helen O. Ogbara ’05 worried that “rising admissions costs and increased conservative politics after this year’s election might lead to continued declines in black admissions at public institutions.”

McGrath Lewis said that Harvard admissions is not about numbers, but individuals.

“We’re looking for the most promising people, not a preordained mixture of people,” she said. “We want to make sure that nothing stands between us and the most promising students.”